Posts Tagged ‘Writer Beware’

As reported by a number of sources, including USA Today, Macmillan is launching Swoon Reads, a new teen romance imprint, under its existing Feiwel and Friends imprint. It’s looking for submissions of previously unpublished manuscripts.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions recently about Paul Hollingshead and the Barefoot Writer’s Club (part of American Writers & Artists Inc., which sells courses that promise to help you “Learn How You Can Become a Six-Figure Copywriter”).

In April of this year, the law firm of Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart filed a class action lawsuit against Author Solutions Inc. (ASI) and its parent, Penguin Group, on behalf of three plaintiffs, alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment, various violations of the California Business and Professional Code, and violation of New York General Business Law.

I had this post ready to go on Friday, but it was pre-empted by news of Ann Crispin’s death. I was considering letting the blog sit silent for a week–but in light of the fools and trolls who are dreaming of Writer Beware’s demise, I’ve decided to carry on as usual. It’s what Ann would have wanted.

Author A. C. Crispin (b.1950) died on September 6 after a year-long battle with cancer. Crispin began publishing in 1983 with the Star Trek novel Yesterday’s Son. She continued writing media tie-in novels, including for the television show V and the films Star Wars, Alien, and The Pirates of the Caribbean. In 1989, she published her first original novel, Starbridge, and co-wrote six sequels to it. In 2005, […]

I’ve been hesitant to make this post, but it’s time. I want to thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. I fear my condition is deteriorating. I am doing the best I can to be positive but I probably don’t have an awful lot of time left.

Starting last February, I began hearing from Iconic authors reporting a variety of similar problems, including production delays, poor copy editing (books were printed full of errors), poor communication, and broken marketing promises. I’ve also seen several Iconic contracts, and they’re pretty bad, with a sweeping claim on subsidiary rights (even though there’s no evidence Iconic is capable of exploiting them), unacceptably vague reversion language, royalties paid on net profit, and a Right of First refusal clause that could be interpreted to require the authors to submit to the publisher any subsequent book they ever produced.

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